The following came from a senior design faculty at a premier institute, as all are fond of calling it…

“I read through fully the draft of the Design Manifesto prepared by the MHRD for the introduction of design education in institutes of higher learning in India. I wish we had access to such a paper from the DIPP which has already put four stones in the ground without sharing any plans or vision document so far. I wonder when these administrators will learn that India is changing and that inclusive planning can indeed make a better offering in the age of the internet and social media. …the MHRD note was stimulating and very encouraging indeed for all in the design community. Hope to see the draft in an final approved for in the near future. …I was immersed in the very exciting MHRD Design Manifesto, full credits to the leadership at the helm of the MHRD who have moved design to centre stage at the IITs and NITs across India.”

The ministry’s page itself, @ http://mhrd.gov.in/, is a sight to see. Design, in it’s broadest sense, is getting it’s due from the decision makers it seems. But even as you will find a better focus on design in general in MHRD’s outlook, CoA page is a stub. Neither any real vision, nor any attempt to pare architecture colleges with institutes like IITs and NITs is visible. I wonder with opening up of norms and lowering of criteria (To get more students, rather than through some enlightened perception of the Arts and Commerce students being worthy, in my guess), it will even be called technical education anymore.

And I wonder when the design related institutions will learn to put forth such vision. Some are new, bubbling with enthusiasm. Yet others are lost without a hope.

However, I will give it to these guys at Durgapur. If engineering institutes try to embrace design, why shouldn’t it happen the other way round? Most of the Architecture schools were strapped to engineering institutions anyway…

“Architecture engineering offer various career possibilities for qualified individuals. They can either practice from home or be actively involved in the following activities and/or industries:
The supply and distribution of electricity i.e. hydro-electric, coal-fired and nuclear schemes; basic industries like steel, mining, chemical and petrochemical; manufacturing and related industries like anti-pollution equipment, automatic control systems, medical equipment manufacture and mass production; measurement process engineering control; medical x-rays, ultrasonic scanners, electrocardiograph equipment and magnetic resonance imaging; microprocessors, personal and main-frame computers; aviation electronics; specification development/technical administration and management; technical training and education; computer industry i.e. fabrication, design and modification; microprocessor control of industrial systems; electronic systems used in steel works, refineries and large chemical plants; manufacturing or electronic components and equipment; air, sea and rail transport systems where electronic control or monitoring is involved; transmission and receiving of electronic signals; television and radio; communication via satellite, microwaves, closed circuit television and fiber optic links; military radar, communications and related operations.”

That came from Rani Rashmoni School of Architecture, of SET Group @ http://setgoi.com/college/rrsa/arch.do

MHRD, please pay some attention to ‘Design’ in the narrower sense of the term too?

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The State of Design Education is certainly woeful especially in India. As you rightly said, “And I wonder when the design related institutions will learn to put forth such vision. Some are new, bubbling with enthusiasm. Yet others are lost without a hope.” I do not really care about manifestos. Able people can make things happen even without them. But what I see around me is a severe lack of such people.